HISSAR TOWN
155
in 1890-r, 3,803 in 1goo-i, and 4,258 in 1903-4. In the last year
there were 6 secondary and 73 primary (public) schools, and 3 advanced
and 46 elementary (private) schools, with 167 girls in the public and
91 in the private schools. The Anglo-vernacular schools at Hissar
town, Bhiwani, and Sirsa are the most important. Two girls' schools
at Bhiwani are maintained by the Baptist Zanana Mission. The total
expenditure on education in 1903-4 was Rs. 40,000, to which Provincial
funds contributed Rs. 2,000, municipalities Rs. i 1,ooo, fees Rs. 10,000,
and District funds Rs. 16,ooo, while the rest (Rs. i,ooo) was met from
subscriptions and endowments.
Besides the dispensary at Hissar the District possesses eight out-
lying dispensaries. In 1904 at these institutions 71,314 out-patients
and 2,216 in-patients were treated, and 6,027 operations were performed.
The expenditure was Rs. 20,000, the greater part of which was met
from municipal funds.
The number of successful vaccinations in 1903-4 was 18,038, or 23.7
per 1,ooo of the population.
[J. Wilson, General Code of Tribal Custom in the Sirsa District
(1883); P. J. Fagan, District Gazetteer (1892, under revision);
A. Anderson and P. J. Fagan, Settlement Report of hrissdr (1892) ;
C. M. King, Settlement Report of Sirsa and Fdzilka Tahsils (1905).]
Hissar Tahsil.-Tahsil of Hissar :District, Punjab, :lying between
28° 54′ and 29° 32′ N. and 75° 22′ and 76° 2′ E., on the borders of
the Bikaner desert, with an area of 810 square miles. The population
in igoi was 128,783, compared with 122,299 in 1891. HISSAR 'TOWN:
(population, 17,647) is the head-quarters, and the tahsil also contains
134 villages. The land revenue and cesses in 1903--4 amounted to
1.6 lakhs. The northern part is a bare plain, forming part of the tract
known as Hariana, where the soil is a firm sandy loam. South of the
thin belt of fertility afforded by the Western Jumna Canal, the level
stretches of poor cultivation gradually merge into the rolling sandhills
characteristic of the neighbouring State of Bikaner.
Hissar Town.-Head-quarters of the District and tahsil of the
same name, Punjab, situated in 29° 10′ N. and 75° 44′ E., on the
Rewari-Bhatinda branch of the Rajputana-Malwa Railway ; distant by
rail from Calcutta 1,097 miles, from Bombay 979, and from Karachi
819. Population (igoi), 17,647. It was founded in 1356 by Firoz
Shah Tughlak, and supplied with water by means of the canal now
known as the Western Jumna Canal, and became the head-quarters
of a sarkdr. In 1408 Hissar fell into the hands of the rebels against
Mahmud Tughlak, but was recovered in 1411 by the emperor in
person. It appears to have been occupied by an imperial garrison at
the time of Babar's invasion, and as the head-quarters of a sarkdr
was of considerable importance under the Mughals. The town was